Table Of Contents
Configuring Confidence Tests
Getting Started with Confidence Tests
Configuring Confidence Tests
Configuring Applications for Confidence Tests
Determining How Many Phones You Need
Configuring Phones
Meeting the Requirements for Target Phones
Recording Phone Extension Numbers on a Worksheet
Maintaining Confidence Tests in ITM
Opening Administration Pages for Monitored Applications
Adding Confidence Tests
Adding Phone Registration or Off Hook Confidence Tests
Adding an End To End Call Confidence Test
Adding a TFTP Receive Confidence Test
Adding a Cisco Conference Connection Confidence Test
Adding an Emergency Call Confidence Test
Adding a Unity Message Waiting Indicator Confidence Test
Modifying Confidence Tests
Deleting Confidence Tests
Scheduling Confidence Tests
Confidence Test Notes
Confidence Test Worksheets
Configuring Confidence Tests
Confidence tests are tests that you configure to run periodically. They use voice applications as other devices (phones) normally would, and analyze the behavior of the system. IP Telephony Monitor (ITM) can monitor the information returned from the confidence tests and generate events based on the results.
The following topics are covered:
•
Getting Started with Confidence Tests
•Configuring Confidence Tests
•Configuring Applications for Confidence Tests
•Maintaining Confidence Tests in ITM
•Scheduling Confidence Tests
•Confidence Test Notes
•Confidence Test Worksheets
Getting Started with Confidence Tests
Confidence tests are used to measure the availability of voice applications. Confidence tests verify whether the voice application can service requests from a user. For example, you can use confidence tests to verify that phones can register with a Cisco CallManager.
Confidence tests use synthetic phones to measure the availability of voice applications by emulating your actions. For example, a confidence test places a call between clusters and then checks to see if the call is successful.
If a confidence test fails, ITM generates a critical event. Such events are displayed in the Alerts and Activities display.
ITM supports confidence testing for the following applications:
•Cisco CallManager
•Cisco TFTP Server
•Cisco Emergency Responder
•Cisco Conference Connection
•Cisco Unity
Table 18-1 lists the confidence tests and the results that each test must produce to pass.
Note The phones in all confidence tests, except for Phone Registration, remain registered unless there is a failure.
Table 18-1 Confidence Test Descriptions and Expected Results
Confidence Test
|
Description
|
Expected Results
|
Phone Registration
|
Opens a connection with the Cisco CallManager and registers a simulated IP phone.
|
Successful registration of the phone.
|
Off Hook
|
Simulates an off-hook state to the Cisco CallManager and checks for receipt of a dial tone.
|
Receives a dial tone signal from the Cisco CallManager.
|
End to End Call
|
Initiates a call to a second simulated or real IP phone.
|
•Registers, goes off-hook, and places the call
•Ring indication
•Destination phone goes off-hook to accept the call
Note If call progress tones and announcements are configured on the gateway for your end-to-end call, the test may succeed even before the phone rings or after a couple of rings. This indicates that your gateway is working correctly.
|
TFTP Receive Test
|
Performs a TFTP get-file operation on the TFTP server.
|
Successful download of a configuration file from the TFTP server.
|
Emergency Call Test
|
Initiates a call to the emergency number to test the dynamic routing of emergency calls.
|
•All calls initiated
•Ring indication on Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and On Site Alert Number (OSAN), if configured.
|
Cisco Conference Connection Test
|
Creates a conference (meeting) in the Conference Center and connects to the meeting.
|
•Conference created with the specified meeting ID
•Call initiated
•First person and second person (if configured) successfully connect to the conference
|
Unity Message Waiting Indicator Test
|
Calls the target phone and leaves a voice message in the voice mail box.
|
Activation of the phone's message waiting indicator. The message is then deleted and the message waiting indicator is deactivated.
|
Configuring Confidence Tests
Step 1 Configure the phones that you will use to run confidence tests, following the recommendations in the "Configuring Applications for Confidence Tests" section.
Step 2 Configure the confidence tests, following the instructions in the "Adding Confidence Tests" section.
Configuring Applications for Confidence Tests
You can configure confidence tests for each Cisco CallManager and Cisco voice application in your network. For each confidence test, you must configure one or more phones in the related Cisco CallManager or Cisco voice application.
Caution Only Cisco 7960 IP Phones are supported for confidence tests.
When configuring phones:
•Create one phone extension number and one MAC address for each test and use it for that test only.
•Make sure that the combination of the phone extension number and the MAC address used in a test is unique across the voice cluster.
Caution Failure to follow these recommendations may result in confidence test failures.
Before you configure phones, work through the "Determining How Many Phones You Need" section to estimate how many phones you will need based on the tests you want to run.
As you configure phones on each Cisco CallManager, use the worksheet in the "Confidence Test Worksheets" section to simplify data entry into ITM.
Determining How Many Phones You Need
The number of phones you must create in a Cisco CallManager for use in confidence tests depends on:
•The number of confidence tests you want to configure
•The type of tests you want to run
Table 18-2 provides a worksheet for determining how many phones you need.
Table 18-2 Number of Phones Required for Confidence Tests
Number of Tests
|
Type of Test
|
Phones Needed for Test
|
Total Phones Needed
|
| |
Phone Registration
|
1 (synthetic phone)
|
|
| |
Off Hook
|
1 (synthetic phone)
|
|
| |
End to End Call Test with real phones
|
2 (1 synthetic phone and 1 real phone)
|
|
| |
End to End Call Test with synthetic phones
|
2 (synthetic phones)
|
|
| |
TFTP Receive Test
|
0
|
|
| |
Emergency Call (without On Site Alert Number)
|
2 (synthetic phones)
|
|
| |
Emergency Call (with On Site Alert Number)
|
3 (synthetic phones)
|
|
| |
Cisco Conference Connection Test
|
2 (synthetic phones)
|
|
| |
Unity Message Waiting Indicator Test
|
2 (synthetic phones)
|
|
Configuring Phones
When you configure phones in a Cisco CallManager, you must consider the requirements listed in the "Meeting the Requirements for Target Phones" section and record the phone information as you enter it. A sample worksheet is provided in the "Confidence Test Worksheets" section.
Meeting the Requirements for Target Phones
For the following confidence tests, there are special requirements for the target phones:
•Cisco Unity Message Waiting Indicator—When creating the subscriber on Cisco Unity that you are going to use for confidence testing, configure the subscriber according to the following:
–The set subscriber for self-enrollment at next login check box must be deselected, or you must use a real phone to dial into the Cisco Unity device and complete the personalization process.
–Set the password option to password never expires.
•Emergency Call—The outgoing Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) must use a local phone (not 911). Also, for the On Site Alert Number (OSAN), use a synthetic phone only (do not use your local onsite security phone).
•Cisco Conference Connection—For Cisco CallManager Release 4.0, when you are configuring a route pattern in Cisco CallManager to connect to Cisco Conference Connection, you must select the Allow Overlap sending option.
Recording Phone Extension Numbers on a Worksheet
As you configure phones, record them on a worksheet similar to those in Table 18-5 through Table 18-8. Use the worksheet that is appropriate for the confidence test you are configuring. The design of the worksheet reflects the design of the Confidence Test Configuration page.
Note Do not use phone extension numbers that consist of more than twelve digits.
Use a copy of the worksheets to record:
•Cisco CallManager—You can obtain a list of Cisco CallManagers from the Confidence Testing page. For instructions on opening the Confidence Testing page, see the "Maintaining Confidence Tests in ITM" section.
•Phone extension numbers and MAC addresses—Record the phone extension numbers and MAC addresses you plan to use.
•Passwords and usernames—Record the passwords and usernames you plan to use.
Maintaining Confidence Tests in ITM
The ITM Confidence Testing page lists all of the monitored applications known to ITM and any confidence tests that are configured for them.
Note If two clients (two browser instances) are running on the same system and are connected to the same server, both browsers will use the same instance of the Confidence Testing page.
These topics explain how to use the Confidence Testing page:
•Opening Administration Pages for Monitored Applications
•Adding Confidence Tests
•Modifying Confidence Tests
•Deleting Confidence Tests
Table 18-3 describes the information displayed in the Confidence Testing page.
Table 18-3 Confidence Testing Page
Heading/Button
|
Description
|
Monitored Application
|
The applications known to ITM that support confidence tests:
•Cisco CallManager
•Cisco TFTP Server
•Cisco Emergency Responder
•Cisco Conference Connection
•Cisco Unity
Any of these applications that are installed in the network, and added to ITM, are displayed in this page. When an application is deleted from ITM, any confidence tests configured for that application are stopped, and the application is no longer displayed on this page. If the application is readded to ITM, the previously configured confidence tests are automatically added and started.
|
Application Instance
|
The IP address of the server where the application is located.
|
Configured Tests
|
The confidence tests that have been configured.
|
Configure
|
Clicking the configuration icon opens the Confidence Test Configuration page
|
Opening Administration Pages for Monitored Applications
The Administration pages for a monitored application can be opened from the Confidence Testing page.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Under the Application Instance column, click the DNS name or IP address for the application.
The Administration page for the application opens.
Note To view the Administration page for a monitored application, you must be authorized to access the application.
Adding Confidence Tests
Before adding confidence tests, you must configure phones, following the recommendations in the "Configuring Applications for Confidence Tests" section. When you add confidence tests, use the worksheet recommended in the "Configuring Phones" section to assist you in entering the correct data.
The following sections describe the steps for adding confidence tests:
•Adding Phone Registration or Off Hook Confidence Tests
•Adding an End To End Call Confidence Test
•Adding a TFTP Receive Confidence Test
•Adding a Cisco Conference Connection Confidence Test
•Adding an Emergency Call Confidence Test
•Adding a Unity Message Waiting Indicator Confidence Test
Adding Phone Registration or Off Hook Confidence Tests
You can only configure one Phone Registration test and Off Hook test per Cisco CallManager.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of the Cisco CallManager.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select either Phone Registration or Off-Hook.
Step 5 From the Interval list, select an interval.
Step 6 Enter the MAC address for the phone. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Note The MAC address for synthetic phones must be between 00059a3b7700 and 00059a3b8aff.
Note ITM verifies only that the MAC addresses entered in the Confidence Test Configuration page are syntactically valid. It is your responsibility to make sure the correct numbers are entered, as configured in the Cisco CallManager.
Step 7 To save the existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 8 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 9 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Adding an End To End Call Confidence Test
You have the option of configuring the target phone as a real phone or a synthetic phone. The default setting is a synthetic phone.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of the Cisco CallManager.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select End To End Call.
Step 5 Select an interval from the Interval list.
Step 6 In the Source pane, enter the MAC address for the phone. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Note The MAC address for synthetic phones must be between 00059a3b7700 and 00059a3b8aff.
Step 7 In the Destination pane, select either the Synthetic Phone or Real Phone radio button:
•If you select Synthetic Phone, do the following:
–Select the Cisco CallManager
–Enter the phone's MAC address. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
–Enter the phone's extension number.
Note ITM verifies only that the MAC addresses and phone extension number entered in the Confidence Test Configuration page are syntactically valid. It is your responsibility to make sure the correct numbers are entered, as configured in the Cisco CallManager.
•If you select Real Phone, enter the phone's extension number.
Step 8 To save existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
If you want to add another test for this Cisco CallManager, repeat the procedure, starting with Step 3.
Step 9 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 10 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Adding a TFTP Receive Confidence Test
You can configure only one TFTP Receive test for each Cisco CallManager.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of the TFTP Server.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select TFTPReceiveTest.
Step 5 From the Interval list, select an interval.
Step 6 To save existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 7 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 8 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Adding a Cisco Conference Connection Confidence Test
You can configure only one Cisco Conference Connection for each Cisco Conference Connection Server.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of Cisco Conference Connection.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select Cisco Conference Connection Test.
Step 5 Select an interval from the Interval list.
Step 6 In the Cisco Conference Connection pane, enter the following:
•Username
•Password
•Meeting ID
•Access Number (route pattern between Cisco CallManager and the Cisco Conference Connection server)
Step 7 In the First Caller pane, do the following:
a. Select a Cisco CallManager where Cisco Conference Connection is configured.
b. Enter the phone's MAC address. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Note The MAC address for synthetic phones must be between 00059a3b7700 and 00059a3b8aff.
Note ITM verifies only that the MAC address number entered in the Confidence Test Configuration page is syntactically valid. It is your responsibility to make sure the correct numbers are entered, as configured in the Cisco CallManager.
Step 8 In the Second Caller pane, do the following:
a. Select a Cisco CallManager where Cisco Conference Connection is configured.
b. Enter the phone's MAC address. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Step 9 To save existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 10 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 11 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Adding an Emergency Call Confidence Test
The Emergency Call confidence test is supported only on Cisco Emergency Responder Release 1.2.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of Cisco Emergency Responder.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select Emergency Call.
Step 5 From the Source CCM list, select the source Cisco CallManager.
Step 6 Enter the MAC address for the target phone in the MAC Address field. Use the form 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Note The MAC address for synthetic phones must be between 00059a3b7700 and 00059a3b8aff.
Note ITM verifies only that the MAC address number entered in the Confidence Test Configuration page is syntactically valid. It is your responsibility to make sure the correct numbers are entered, as configured in the Cisco CallManager.
Step 7 In the Emergency Number field, enter the emergency phone extension number.
Step 8 From the PSAP Target CCM list, select the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) target Cisco CallManager.
Step 9 If there is an On Site Alert Number (OSAN), select the On Site Alert Number check box.
If there is not an On Site Alert Number, go to step Step 12.
Step 10 From the OSAN Target CCM list, select the OSAN target Cisco CallManager.
Step 11 In the OSAN MAC Address field, enter the OSAN phone's MAC address.
Step 12 From the Interval list, select an interval.
Note If you selected the On Site Alert Number check box, 30 minutes is the minimum interval allowed.
Step 13 To save existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
If you want to add another test for this Cisco Conference Connection, repeat the procedure, starting with Step 3.
Step 14 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 15 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Adding a Unity Message Waiting Indicator Confidence Test
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of Cisco Unity.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Add Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select Unity Message Waiting Indicator Test.
Step 5 From the Interval list, select a time interval.
Step 6 In the From the Caller pane, do the following:
a. Select a Cisco CallManager.
b. Enter the MAC address for the phone. Use the format 00-05-9a-3b-77-00 or 00059a3b7700.
Note The MAC address for synthetic phones must be between 00059a3b7700 and 00059a3b8aff.
Note ITM verifies only that the MAC address number entered in the Confidence Test Configuration page is syntactically valid. It is your responsibility to make sure the correct numbers are entered, as configured in the Cisco CallManager.
Step 7 In the Recipient pane, do the following:
a. Select a Cisco CallManager.
b. Enter the MAC address for the phone.
c. Enter the phone extension number.
Step 8 In the Voice Mail pane, enter the voice mail password.
Step 9 To save existing test data, click the Add button. A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
If you want to add another test for this Cisco Unity, repeat the procedure, starting with Step 3.
Step 10 When you are done adding confidence tests, click OK.
Step 11 Click OK in the confirmation message box.
Tip
•After you perform a Cisco CallManager version upgrade, Cisco Unity confidence tests that use the Cisco CallManager you upgraded might stop working. If this problem occurs, you should delete the Cisco Unity confidence test, and then add the confidence test again.
Modifying Confidence Tests
Note Every time you create or modify a test that requires a phone extension number and a MAC address, you should edit them as a pair. Do not modify one independently of the other.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of the confidence test you want to modify.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Modify Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select the configured test that you want to modify.
Step 5 Enter the desired information.
Step 6 To preserve the existing test data, click the Modify button.
A cleared Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
If you want to modify additional tests, repeat the procedure, starting with Step 3.
Step 7 When you are done modifying confidence tests, click OK.
Deleting Confidence Tests
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Testing. The Confidence Testing page appears.
Step 2 Click the Configure icon to the right of the confidence test you want to delete.
The Confidence Test Configuration page appears.
Step 3 Select the Delete Test radio button.
Step 4 From the Confidence Test list, select the configured test that you want to delete.
Note If you select the Delete All option from the list, all tests in the list will be deleted.
Step 5 Click OK in the confirmation box.
Step 6 Click OK in the Confidence Test Configuration page.
Note If you click Cancel before clicking OK, the confidence tests will not be deleted.
Step 7 A dialog box opens, showing the tests that you have deleted. Click OK.
Scheduling Confidence Tests
Note Your login determines whether or not you can perform this task. For information on user security, see the "Understanding Your User Role" section.
Step 1 Select IP Telephony Monitor > Configuration > Confidence Test Schedule. The Confidence Test Schedule page appears.
Step 2 Under Scheduling Time, select a start time and an end time. The confidence tests will run during this time.
Step 3 Under Days of the week, select the days you want the tests to run.
Note Confidence tests can be scheduled for only 16 hours per day.
Step 4 Click Apply.
Figure 18-1 shows an example of the Confidence Test Schedule page.
Figure 18-1 Confidence Test Schedule Page
Confidence Test Notes
Table 18-4 contains information you should be aware of when working with confidence tests.
Table 18-4 Confidence Test Notes
Summary
|
Explanation
|
Confidence tests do not run for 30 minutes after the ITM processes are started. However, during this time, you can still create, modify, or delete tests.
|
Starting ITM processes places a high load on the system. To prevent confidence tests from failing during this time, ITM delays starting them.
You can change the default setting by doing the following:
1. Add the following default settings in the AMAServer.properties file located in <NMSRoot>\etc\cwsi:
AMAMonitor.InitialDelay-30
2. Stop and restart the synthetic transaction server using the following commands:
pdterm STServer
pdexec STServer
3. Start the VHMSTIntegrator process using the pdexec VHMSTIntegrator command.
|
When the interval of a confidence test is decreased from a high value to a low value, the first results for the new value may take longer than the new interval to report.
|
Each confidence test executes at a time that is controlled by its interval setting. Immediately after you decrease the interval setting for a confidence test, that transaction might not execute again until a total elapsed time that is longer than the new interval. For example, if you decrease an interval from 180 seconds to 60 seconds, the first results for the new interval may take as long as 240 seconds to report.
|
One-time confidence test failures sometimes occur.
|
Occasionally, one-time confidence test failures occur. Such failures can be due to high loads on the ITM system or other factors that cause ITM to be unable to receive some events from applications.
To determine whether these events are occur occasionally or continually, you should regularly monitor for the TooManyFailedConfidenceTests event.
|
Multiple conferences with the same meeting ID are created and are not deleted, slowing the performance of Cisco Conference Connect database operations.
|
When confidence tests for Cisco Conference Connection (CCC) fail, the conference they create might not be deleted from the CCC Past Conferences database.
If the confidence test fails after a conference is created but before it is stopped and deleted, the next occurrence of the test results in the termination of the conference, but the conference is not deleted.
You should periodically delete any old conferences used for confidence testing. Delete the old conferences through the CCC user interface.
|
Unity Message Waiting Indicator Confidence Tests may fail.
|
If the Unity confidence test fails and the Message Waiting Indicator light is on, you must configure a real phone with the same extension number used in the test and delete the voice mails manually. Alternatively, you can use the Message Store Manager tool to remove the voice mails. Once this is completed, the test will pass.
|
Confidence Test Worksheets
Recording Cisco CallManager Information
Table 18-5 Cisco CallManager Worksheet for Confidence Test Configuration
Cisco CallManager:
|
Confidence Test
|
MAC Address
|
Destination Phone Extension Number
|
Destination Phone Cisco CallManager
|
Phone Registration
|
|
—
|
—
|
Off Hook
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—source phone
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—destination phone (synthetic phone)
|
|
|
|
End to End Call—destination phone (real phone)
|
—
|
|
—
|
Phone Registration
|
|
—
|
—
|
Off Hook
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—source phone
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—destination phone (synthetic phone)
|
|
|
|
End to End Call—destination phone (real phone)
|
—
|
|
—
|
Phone Registration
|
|
—
|
—
|
Off Hook
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—source phone
|
|
—
|
—
|
End to End Call—destination phone (synthetic phone)
|
|
|
|
End to End Call—destination phone (real phone)
|
—
|
|
—
|
Recording Cisco Emergency Responder Information
Table 18-6 Cisco Emergency Responder Worksheet for Confidence Test Configuration
Parameter
|
Name or Number
|
Source
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Destination
|
Emergency number
|
|
Public Safety Answering Point
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
On Site Alert
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Recording Cisco IP Conference Connection Information
The username, password, and access number are required for the Cisco Conference Connection Test.
Table 18-7 Cisco IP Conference Connection Worksheet for Confidence Test Configuration
Parameter
|
Name or Number
|
Cisco Conference Connection
|
Username
|
|
Password
|
|
Meeting ID
|
|
Access number
|
|
First Caller
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Second Caller
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Recording Cisco Unity Information
Table 18-8 Cisco Unity Worksheet for Confidence Test Configuration
Parameter
|
Name or Number
|
Caller
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Recipient
|
Cisco CallManager
|
|
MAC address
|
|
Phone extension number
|
|
Voice Mail
|
Password
|
|
